Clothes hamper



Nov. 26, 1957. H. GLEITSMAN 2,314,542

CLOTHES HAMPER Filed May 4, 1954 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

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'- INVENTOR. Ham/a G/f/TS/Wfl/V fe BY av & y J Hd/m (Ti-{ ATTORNEYS CLOTHES HAMPER Harold Gleitsman, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Application May 4, H54, Serial No. 427 ,517

6 Claims. (Cl. 312-201) This invention relates generally to improvements in clothes hampers.

One object of the present invention is the provision of an improved clothes hamper having a receptacle for soiled clothes, linen, and the like and compartments which may be used to contain articles of a diiferent character segregated from the contents of the main compartments.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved clothes hamper which has integrated therewith separate article compartments which are normally concealed from view, the hamper resembling a conventional hamper in the normal positioning thereof in a room.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved clothes hamper having separate article compartments in which one of the separate compartments is adapted to form a closure for the main compartment with the latter being adapted to form a closure for another one of the separate compartments.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a hamper of generally improved construction and appearance.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

in the drawings which illustrate the best mode now contemplated by me for carrying out my invention,

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a clothes hamper embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the hamper with the main compartment shown in an open position;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the hamper with the upper compartment cover being shown in an open position;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the hamper;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the hamper;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; v

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 88 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, illustrating the manner of pivotally mounting the main compartment to the hamper;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the mounting arrangement for the upper compartment cover;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 1111 of Fig. 16;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view of a bottom portion of a slightly modified form of hamper; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view of a bottom portion of a further modified form of hamper.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 6 thereof, there is shown a clothes hamper 10 which comprises a receptacle 12 and upper and lower separate article compartments 14 and 16, respectively, said receptacle being pivotally movable from the receptacle closed position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 to the receptacle openposition shown in Fig. 2 in the manner to be described in detail hereinafter. The structural support for the receptacle 12 and compartments l4- and 16 of the hamper it) is provided by the laterally spaced upright channel members 18, 20 and 22, the compartments 14 and 16 being fixedly secured to said channel members with the receptacle 12 being pivotally mounted at one side thereof to the channel member 18. With reference to Fig. 6, the lower compartment 16 comprises a closed bottom 24, a peripherally extending upright Wall 26, and a rear wall 28, said peripherally extending wall and said rear wall being secured to the bottom wall 24 in any suitable manner. As here shown the lower marginal edge portion 29 of the peripheral wall 26 is secured to the peripherally extending marginal edge portion 30 of the bottom wall 24 by means of the peripherally extending 'securement strip 32. The lower marginal edge portion of the rear wall 28 is doubled over and bent outwardly to form a flange 34 which is secured to the rear marginal edge portion 36 of the bottom wall 24 in any suitable manner, as by means of the fastener elements 38. The rear wall 28 is further provided with side flanges to which are suitably secured to adjacent portions of the peripheral wall 26. As best shown in Fig. 6, the peripheral wall 26 is of laminated construction and comprises a sheet metal base layer 42 having an outer layer of ornamental plastic sheet material 44 secured thereto. The marginal portions 45 of Wall 26 preferably extend outwardly beyond the plane of the rear wall 26. The upper peripherally extending marginal portion 46 of the sheet metal base layer 42 is preferably bent around associated upper marginal edge portions of the ornamental layer 4 1 to form a neat and finished edge appearance, said portion 46 having a peripherally extending cross sectionally U-shaped rubbing strip 48 disposed thereon for a purpose which will be apparent from the description which follows, said strip being formed of any suitable material. The bottom Wall 24 of the compartment 16 has a plurality of supporting feet 50 secured thereto in any suitable manner. The rear wall 28 of the compartment 16 is rigidly secured to the members 18, 20 and 22 in any suitable manner as by means of the rivets 52. Thus the lower article compartment 16 is mounted in stationary relation with the channel members 18, 2t and 22 and said compartment is provided with an open top 54 which is normally closed by the receptacle 12.

The upper separate article compartment 14 is also rigidly secured to the supporting members 18, 20 and 22 and comprises a bottom wall 56, a peripheral wall 58, and a rear wall 60, said bottom wall and said rear wall being preferably of one-piece integral construction as shown in Fig. 6. The bottom wall 56 is provided with a pcripheral inturned flange 62 which is suitably secured to the peripheral wall 58 and the side flanges 64 of the rear wall 60 are also suitably secured to adjacent portions of said peripheral wall. The peripheral wall 58 is of a laminated construction corresponding to the laminated construction of the peripheral Wall 26 aforedescribed. The open top 65 of the compartment 14 is defined by the rolled peripheral edge 66 of wall 58 and the rolled edge 67 of the rear wall 60, said edge 66 having a plurality of U-shaped bumpers 68 disposed thereon for a purpose which will be apparent from the description which follows. The rear wall 66 of the compartment 14 is rigidly secured to the members 18, 20 and 22 in any suitable manner, as by means of the rivets '76, it being noted that the compartments 14 and 16 are substantially vertically aligned in a fixed relative disposition. The bottom wall 56 of the compartment 14 has suitably secured thereto a plurality of upright partition members 72 which serve to divide the compartment 14. The open top 65 of the compartment 14 is normally closed by the cover 74 which is hinged to the members 18 and 22 as indicated at 76, said cover being swingable from the normal closed position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 to the open position shown in Fig. 3. Thus the pivotal axis for the swinging movement of the cover 74 is generally horizontally disposed and in order to limit the opening movement of said cover there is provided with a stop bracket 78, as best shown in Figs. and 11, which is adapted to cooperate with an associated portion of the channel member 22. Thus the bracket 78 is suitably secured to one of the hinges 76 and is adapted to engage the support member 22 to limit the opening movement of the cover 74. As best shown in Fig. 6, the cover 74 comprises a rigid base part 80 formed of any suitable material and an outer part 82 which is preferably formed of plastic sheet material 83 having suitable filler material 84 disposed thereunder. The separate article compartment 14 is generally of the cross sectional size and shape of the compartment .16 and the compartment 14 forms a closure for the receptacle 12 when the latter is in the receptacle closed position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6. It is to be noted that the marginal portions 85 of the wall 58 preferably extend out wardly beyond the plane of the rear wall 60 inthe manner of the portions 45 of wall 26.

The receptacle 12, which is pivotally mounted to the channel member 18, comprises a closed bottom wall 86, a peripherally extending upright wall 88, and a rear wall 90, said bottom wall and said rear wall being preferably of one-piece integral construction in the manner described above with reference to the compartment 14. If desired, the rear wall 90 of the receptacle 12 may be suitably perforated as indicated at 92 to provide ventilating holes for the main compartment 94 of the. clothes hamper 10. The peripheral wall 88 is of a laminated construction corresponding to the construction of the peripheral walls 26 and 58 aforedescribed, and said peripheral wall 88 is provided with a suitable knob 96 for facilitating the. bodily movement of the receptacle 12 between open and closed positions. The upper peripherally extending marginal edge portion 98 of the receptacle 12 is of a construction similar to the construction of the correspond ing portion of the lower compartment 16 and said upper marginal ,edge portion defines the open top 100 of the compartment 94. The bottom wall 86 is provided with a peripheral inturned flange 102 which is secured to the lower peripherally extending marginal edge portion 104 of the wall 88 in any suitable manner, as by means of welding and the like. The rear wall 90 is provided with longitudinally extending upright side flanges 106 which are suitably secured to adjacent portions of the peripherally extending wall 88. The marginal portions 107 of wall 88 preferably extend outwardly beyond the plane of the rear wall 90 in the manner of the portions 45 and 85 of the separate article compartments The side 108 of the receptacle 12 is pivotally mounted to the channel member 18 by means of the pair of hinges 110(Figs. 7 and 9), each of said hinges comprising a pair of complementary plates 112 and 114 pivotally interconnected by means of hinge pin 116. The plates 112 of the hinges 110 are secured in vertically spaced and aligned disposition to the member 18 in any suitable manner and the plates 114 of said hinges are suitably secured to a marginal portion 107 of the peripheral wall 88. It is to be noted that the member 18 is recessed as indicated at 120 for the reception of the hinges 110 so as to impart to the hamper10 a neat and unbroken aesthetically attractive external ap pearance with the peripheral walls 26, 58 and 88 being in vertically aligned disposition. From the above it will be apparent that the hinges 110 aforedescribed provide for the. pivotal movement of the receptacle 12, said receptacle being bodily movable in a substantially hori-.

zontal plane between a receptacle closed position in which the upper compartment 14 forms a closure for the receptacle 12 at the open top 100 thereof and a receptacle open position as shown in Fig. 2, in which the receptacle is open at said open top. When the receptacle 12 is disposed in the receptacle closed disposition said receptacle is disposed between the receptacle compartments 14 and 16 and is substantially vertically aligned therewith, said receptacle in this disposition forming a closure for the open top 54 of the lower compartment 16. When the receptacle 12 is bodily moved out of its disposition of vertical alignment with the separate compartments, both the main compartment 94 and the lower compartment 16 will be opened for the reception of articles in segregated disposition.

From the above it will therefore be apparent that access to the upper compartment 14 is obtained by means of the openable cover 74 whereas access to the compartments 94 and 16 is obtained by pivotally moving the receptacle 12 to the receptacle open position in which said receptacle is out of vertical alignment with the compartment 16 so that the open tops of both of said compartments are accessible for the placing of articles therein or the removal of articles therefrom. The simple manipulation of the receptacle 12 to the receptacle closed posi' tion provides for the closing of the compartments 94 and 16, the compartment 14 constituting the closure for the open top .100 of the receptacle 12 and the receptacle 12 at the bottom wall 86 thereof constituting a closure for the open top 54 of the lower compartment 16. As previously pointed out, the compartmentslfi and 94 are provided with rubbing strips 48 and 49, respectively, which are adapted to protect their associated peripheral edges of said compartments during the pivotal movement of the receptacle 12. If desired, the bottom wall 24 of the hamper may have suitably integrated therewith casters 122 in order to provide for ease of movement of the hamper on a suitable supporting surface, as will be readily apparent.

The main compartment 94 of the hamper is adapted for the reception of soiled clothes, linen and the like, whereas the. separate article compartments 14 and 16 are adapted for the reception of articles of a different character segregated from the contents of the main compartment. In the normal disposition of the hamper the entire contents thereof are concealed from view and such hamper is adapted to contain a multitude of household articles in the separate article compartments in a segregated disposition from the usual contents of the main compartment 94. The receptacle 12 is generally of the cross sectional size and shape of the stationary compartments 14 and 16 and it will be apparent from the above that access to the compartments 12 and 16 may be obtained by manually manipulating said receptacle to the receptacle open position. If desired, suitable stop means may be provided for limiting the pivotal movement of the receptacle 12 in the receptacle open direction. The peripheral walls of the compartments 12, 14 and 16 preferably overlie the end support members 18 and 22 so that the hamper presents an overall smooth and unbroken aesthetically attractive appearance.

With reference to Fig. 13, there is shown a slightly modified form of hamper 10 which is structurally similar to the hamper 10 except that hamper 10 has its 7 receptacle part 12' provided with a peripherally extending wall 88" having a peripherally extending depending portion 124 which is adapted to overlie the peripherally extending upper marginal edge portion 48 and the peripheral wall 26' when said receptacle part is in the receptacle closed position. .The compartment 16' may be of slightly smaller size, cross sectionally, than the receptacle 12 to accommodate the depending portion 124 and when said receptacle is in the normal receptacle closed position said depending portion will conceal the wall 26 and the open top 54' whereby to present a neat and attractive overall hamper appearance. It will be understood that, if desired, the depending portion 124 may overlie only part of the wall 26 adjacent the portion 48' whereby to conceal the open top 54' of the lower compartment.

While I have shown and described the prefererd embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the idea or principles of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention,.what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said compartments having back walls and having peripheral walls projecting rearwardly of said back Walls forming vertical flanges at the opposite sides respectively of said compartments, said vertically extending means being secured to said flanges, and vertical hinge means at the same sides of said compartments and said main receptacle mounting said main receptacle for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of said main receptacle being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment and being opened in said position of displacement.

2. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said compartments and said main receptacle each having a peripherally extending wall and a rear wall secured thereto, said peripherally extending Walls each having opposing marginal edge portions which project outwardly beyond the plane of the associated rear wall rearwardly of the latter, said vertically extending means being disposed between said opposing marginal edge portions, said main receptacle being mounted for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of said main receptacle which is being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment and being opened in said position of displacement.

3. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said compartments and said main receptacle each having a peripherally extending wall and a rear wall secured thereto, said peripherally extending walls each having opposing marginal edge portions which project outwardly beyond the plane of the associated rear wall rearwardly of the latter, said vertically extending means being disposed between said opposing marginal edge portions, said main receptacle being mounted by said vertically extending means for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of said main receptacle being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment and being opened in said position of displacement.

4. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said compartments and said main receptacle each having a peripherally extending wall and a rear wall secured thereto, said peripherally extending walls each having opposing marginal edge portions which project outwardly beyond the plane of the associated rear wall rearwardly of the latter, said vertically extending means being disposed between said opposing marginal edge portions, said main receptacle being mounted by said vertically extending means for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of said main receptacle being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment and being opened in said position of displacement, said mounting of said main receptacle being constituted by hinge means interconnected between one of the opposing marginal edge portions of said main receptacle and an adjacent portion of said vertically extending means.

5. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said main receptacle being mounted by said vertically extending means for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of main receptacle being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment and being opened in said position of displacement, said second compartment having a top opening, said vertically extending means having upper portions disposed above said main receptacle, and movable closure means for said last mentioned top opening supported for movement by said upper portions of vertically extending means for movement between open and closed positions thereof.

6. A cabinet of the character described, comprising a main receptacle having a top opening, a first compartment disposed below said main receptacle, a second compartment disposed above said main receptacle, means extending vertically between said first and second compartments for supporting the second compartment in vertically spaced relation to said first compartment with the two compartments adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the main receptacle, said main receptacle being mounted by said vertically extending means for swinging movement in a horizontal plane in the space between the two compartments from a position in which said main receptacle is in vertical alignment with said compartments to a position in which said main receptacle is displaced laterally from said position of alignment, said top opening of main receptacle being closed by said second compartment in said position of alignment andbeing opened in said position of displacement, said second compartment having a top opening said vertically extending means having upper portions disposed above said main receptacle, movable closure means for said last mentioned top opening supported for movement by said upper portions of vertically extending means for movement between open and closed positions thereofpand stop means for said movable closure means operable in conjunction with said vertically extending means to limit the opening movement of said closure means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

